Chritmas presents and odd situations
by Inuyashagirl00
Summary: Well Kagome goes to the past with a special Christmas present for Inuyasha but what kind of odd situations will they get into? -no lemons (Inuyasha & Kagome pairing)
1. Default Chapter

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or anything to do with Inuyasha.  
  
Kagome finished taping the last fold of wrapping paper over the box and stood back to admire her handiwork. It looked nice she decided— with the metallic red paper shining brightly over the gift as she picked it up. She turned it around to examine the back and decided it passed the test. With a quick smile, she reached over the table to grab the role of ribbon and promptly snipped a strand off. Tying the ribbon around the package in the shape of a bow, she skillfully used the scissors to curl the ends into elegant ringlets cascading neatly on top of the bundle. She set the package on the table she had been working at and gave a happy sigh; it was 11:00 at night and she was quite exausted.  
  
Giving a quick glance at the other three gifts sitting on the work-table, she nodded tiredly— as if satisfied, and stood up. It was really time she go to sleep, but she had wanted to stay up to make sure everyone's Christmas presents were perfect. She cared about her friends from the feudal era a lot, and she wanted to make sure they all got a great present from her. She seriously doubted whether any of them had ever heard of Christmas before and she knew these were probably going to be their first Christmas presents ever. Christmas was really an American holiday but Souta, hearing about it from his teacher three years ago, had insisted that they took part in it as well. He seemed thrilled with the idea of celebrating a holiday based on giving each other gifts and wouldn't shut up about it until their mother finally gave in and let him have his holiday. And ever since they had started celebrating Christmas, it had quickly become the Higurashi family's favorite holiday. It always gave Kagome a special feeling in her heart when Christmas time rolled around, and she bought presents for her family and the people she loved. And she had naturally wanted to share Christmas with her friends. By friends, that counted Inuyasha, Sango, Miroku, and Shippo from the feudal era. So that was why she had stayed up until 11:00 wrapping their gifts.  
  
She gave one last tired glance at the last present she had been working on and noted that it was Inuyasha's. It was the largest of the presents, and she had wrapped it specially in red paper, knowing that he obviously liked the color. She smiled thinking of the look on his face he would have when she handed him the beautiful package and sighed. Surely even Inuyasha would be greatful for a present? She decided he would, and turned to walk out of the room, turning off the light switch as she went. Making her way over to her bed, she felt that same Christmassy feeling of happiness stir within her and her smile broadened. As she turned off the light in her room and climbed under the covers of her bed, she felt she couldn't wait until tomorrow.  
  
Kagome climbed out of the well with some difficulty the next day, as she strained noticeably to haul the large sack of presents out behind her. She had gotten them half way out of the well and had unconsciously stepped backwards to brace herself for another tug when she felt her foot slide clumsily over a rock. She gave a small yelp of surprise and felt her body lurch forward into the well as she lost her footing. The bag of presents began to drop back down the hole as she shot forward, and she half expected to find herself back in her own time once again, as she plummeted over the side. But just as she was about to completely fall into the well a hand shot out and grabbed her by the ankle. With a sharp tug she felt her entire body being lifted out of the well almost effortlessly, presents and all, and found herself peering into a pair of amused amber eyes.  
  
"So Kagome, going back so soon? But you just got here not thirty seconds ago!" A familiar hanyou's voice teased.  
  
Kagome noticed her skirt was starting to ride down her thighs from being held upside down and demanded Inuyasha put her down.  
  
"Inuyasha set me down already, your claws are digging into my ankle!"  
  
Inuyasha blinked in surprise and immediately dropped her, letting her crash to the ground in a heap.  
  
"Inuyasha!" Kagome shouted angrily as she sat up brushing dirt off her skirt. She shot him one of her famous glares and stood up huffily.  
  
"You could have at least warned me you were going to do that!"  
  
"Wha-?? You told me to put you down so why the hell are you yelling at me now?" He asked in confusion.  
  
"Yes I told you to put me down but I didn't mean like that— oh never mind lets not fight today, ok?"  
  
Inuyasha who had opened his mouth to argue more was quickly cut short by Kagome's statement. He folded his arms into his haori sleeves and frowned moodily.  
  
"Feh, whatever."  
  
Kagome just ignored his bad attitude, she was used to it, and bent to pick up her backpack and bag of presents. She slung the backpack over her shoulder and holding the presents in her arms, started to stagger forward under the weight. Inuyasha watched in amusement as she struggled with the large sack for a few minutes before his curiousity got the better of him.  
  
"Hey Kagome, what's with the sack?"  
  
Kagome stopped walking and glanced at him over her shoulder.  
  
"Umm.....er well they're Christmas presents." She explained shortly. She really didn't want to tell him too much about them before she started handing them out to everyone. He just stared at her for a moment before repeating, "Crist-mis? What's that?"  
  
She sighed nonchalantly and began walking again as she answered his question. "It's a holiday in my time." Inuyasha stopped to take this in for a moment before he fired his next question.  
  
"Ok...so it's a holiday. What's this about presents though? Do you mean you brought more ramen or something?" At this, his eyes brightened up hopefully and he leapt forward to keep pace next to Kagome. Up until this point he had been walking behind her, and his sudden presence startled her. She fumbled clumsily with the sack, which had become dislodged from her sudden movement, and blushed lightly. Inuyasha stared at her skeptically, waiting for an answer. He sighed impatiently when she failed to answer him right away, and shot out a hand to grab the sack before she could stop him. He hefted the sack easily over his shoulder and pushed his face right up into hers.  
  
"Answer the question!" He said impatiently. Kagome glared at him and grabbed the locks of hair that hung over his shoulders, pulling his face closer to hers so she could shout at him properly.  
  
"No it's not ramen you food-obsessed pig! But there are special presents in there for you, Miroku, Sango, and Shippo so I would appreciate it if you give me that bag back and don't you dare look at the presents until we get to camp!!!"  
  
Inuyasha winced in pain at the force of her voice next to his sensitive ears and dropped the sack, not out of courtesy to her but to cover his ears, which were ringing in pain. He quickly tried to cover up his pained expression with anger however, and began shouting at her about how she was an evil power hungry demon who loves shouting in people's ears to see how loud you have to be to make them deaf. But Kagome had seen the look of pain on his face before he could cover it up. She immediately let go of him and felt bad about shouting at him like that with his sensitive ears. Inuyasha just glared at her and she knew she had hurt him even if he wouldn't admit it.  
  
Inuyasha who's ears were starting to adjust back to normal felt himself start to feel guilty for yelling at her and grabbing the sack. He knew he really had no right to grab her stuff and felt bad knowing that they were gifts for him and the others. He deserved getting yelled at by Kagome and he knew it. With a frustrated sigh, he turned and leapt into the nearest tree with a look of disgust on his face. He was sick of fighting with her and she looked livid at the moment. It was better just to leave her alone.  
  
Kagome watched him leap into the trees and felt her face soften sadly. She had wanted today to be a day where they didn't fight, and here she had only been in the feudal era ten minutes and she had already sent him running off into the forest. She sighed exasperatedly and felt the guilt start to wash over her at the look of pain on his face. She really shouldn't have shouted at him like that......  
  
"Kagome!"  
  
Kagome barely had time to raise her head before a ball of brown fluff came hurtling into her stomach, locking her in a tight embrace.  
  
"Shippo! Hi!" Exclaimed Kagome, happy to see the little fox cub so excited to see her.  
  
"Hey Kagome, did you bring me any candy?" Asked Shippo excitedly. Kagome smiled at his childish innocence and nodded yes. Miroku and Sango appeared then, riding on Kirara, and Kagome waved in greeting. Sango half waved in greeting before she screamed in outrage and used the hand she had started to wave at Kagome to slap Miroku across the face. He fell off Kirara and landed in the grass with a doffy grin on his face and a red hand print on his cheek.  
  
"You pevert! Try that again and it will be your head!" Sango screamed angrily. Miroku just sighed contentedly and replied, "To touch you, Sango, it would be worth it."  
  
Sango blushed furiously and gritted her teeth in exasperation. Kagome smiled, a bit cheered up by their antics, and excitedly called them over, eager to give them their presents.  
  
"Hey you guys, I have something special for you! Come here!"  
  
Miroku got up, still staring at Sango as if longing for another grope, and reluctantly listend to Kagome and sat down. Sango sat down next to Shippo, still livid at Mirkou, and waited for Kagome to talk. Kagome glanced around, hoping Inuyasha would come out so she could give him his present as well, but when he didn't show up she sighed and pulled out Sango, Miroku, and Shippo's presents and left his in the bag. She handed each person his or her present and smiled happily in anticipation. She waited for a couple minutes, watching them as they turned over their presents and wondered why they weren't opening them.  
  
"Err......umm thanks Kagome?" Sango tried, totally confused. "I, umm like the color of this very handy umm box thing."  
  
Kagome blinked in surprise and stared at the innocently confused look on Sango's face and burst out laughing. Sango's look turned from confusion, to shock, and then to irritation at Kagome's odd response.  
  
"Really Kagome, I don't see what's so funny. I was only trying to thank you for the gift."  
  
Between chokes of laughter Kagome finally managed to cough out that they were supposed to tare the wrapping paper off and the gifts were inside. This new nugget of information did nothing but make everyone even more confused however, and they told her so.  
  
"But Kagome, why would you give us a gift and then expect us to tare it up? It makes no sense!" Kagome sweat-dropped at Shippo's comment and sighed exasperatedly.  
  
"No, no, no! You've got it all wrong! You're not tearing up the present you're tearing up the wrapping! Oh— here let me show you." She grabbed Shippo's blue wrapped parcel and gently, dislodged the tape on the wrapping. Sticking her finger into the hole she had made, she wiggled it around and created a tear in the paper. Shippo bit his lip in worry, wondering if Kagome was ruining his present and watch nervously as she continued to rip the paper off. After a few good tares she finally broke through the wrapping and discarded the paper onto the grass to reveal Shippo's present.  
  
"Oh!!! I get it now!" Shippo shouted happily as he dived into Kagome's lap to rescue his present.  
  
"Wow Kagome! Look at all the candy! And— oh cool a ball!" Shippo was estatic as he dug through the little box of goodies and toys Kagome had given him. Kagome smiled happily that Shippo approved of her gift and watched him as he tried one after another of her special candies from the future. Sango looked at Miroku and they nodded, both understanding how Kagome's presents worked and lifted up their own gifts. They both simultaneously ripped into their packages and gazed in wonderment at the gifts Kagome had bestowed upon them.  
  
"Oh Kagome! This is so beautiful!" Sango exclaimed, completely breathless at the new kimono she held up before her. It was light purple with silhouettes of white cherry blossom petals floating along the upper part of the fabric while it faded into a pinkish dark purple sunset towards the bottom. Sango was blushing profusely at the lavishly given gift and smiled genuinely at her friend. She dropped the kimono back into the box and wrapped Kagome in a thankful hug. Kagome blushed in embarrassment at how much her friend liked the gifted and commentated that it was no big deal.  
  
Miroku on the other hand was totally silent as he studied his gift with fascination. Kagome looked at him nervously, waiting for him to say something.  
  
"Well, um do you like it?" she asked. "It a book containing the entire history of Japan. There are beautiful maps in it and drawings of your time— the feudal era. It's really really long I'm sure, but it just such a beautiful book I thought you'd like it."  
  
Miroku looked at her happily and smiled just as big as Sango and Shippo had. "Kagome I love it.....but just what did we do to deserve such wonderful gifts?" He asked curiously.  
  
Kagome blinked in confusion, for a moment until it finally dawned on her she had never explained to them about Christmas.  
  
"Well, you see, in my time there is a holiday going on called Christmas. And during Christmas everyone gives each other gifts and so......well I couldn't just leave you guys out of it even if you don't celebrate it." she explained.  
  
"I think Christmas is my favorite holiday!" Shippo piped up happily. "I mean if we all get our very own presents that we don't have to share with anybody, what's better than that?"  
  
Kagome laughed at his comment. She was glad everyone was happy........well almost everyone.  
  
"Hey, I don't have to give Inuyasha any of my candy do I?" Shippo asked with a frown.  
  
"Inuyasha....."  
  
Kagome stood up grabbing Inuyasha's present and glanced back at Shippo before walking away.  
  
"No Shippo, Inuyasha has his own present. I need to give it to him....." She trailed off lamely as she went off to find the hanyou.  
  
"Inuyasha!" she called loudly, hoping he would answer her. She had been walking for 15 minutes and she still had not found him.  
  
"Where is he!?" she wondered aloud to herself. She really wanted to give him his present and apologize for yelling in his ears. Was it possible that she had upset him that much that he wasn't even going to answer her?  
  
"Inuyasha, please if you can hear me answer me!" She tried again. When she heard no reply she bit her lip in worry. What if something happened to him? What if he had been attacked by a demon while they were opening presents and gotten hurt? What if he was unconscious? She really began to panic now. Even when he was mad at her al those other times, he had never purposely ignored her so why wasn't he answering?  
  
"Inuyasha!!" she cried again, this time with a hint of panic in her voice. She ran forward, crashing through the brush frantically hoping he would answer her already. She cradled his present protectively to her chest as she began calling out his name over and over again.  
  
"Inuyasha! Inuyasha, Inuyash—oof"  
  
She stopped abruptly as she ran straight into the very hanyou whose name she had been calling. She slammed into his chest and noted the look of surprise on his face as she started to fall backwards from the force of impact. He quickly reached out and caught her wrist before she fell and steadied her.  
  
"Inuyasha!" she breathed, letting a small smile of relief fall across her face as she looked up at him. "What are you doing running around calling my name for?" He asked quizzically, his eyebrows arching suspiciously. "You're not planning on dragging me along to slay some stupid demon to save an ungrateful village again are you? Cause I'm not doing it so you can forget it— unless it has a shikon shard I—"  
  
"No!" Kagome interrupted forcefully, causing Inuyasha to stare. "I— I just wanted to find you to apolagize."  
  
"For what?"  
  
"Well, for yelling in your ears. You were right, that was taking it to far and I know it hurt you." She said, staring at the ground guiltily.  
  
Inuyasha seemed a bit surprised at this and stared at her in confusion for a moment before relying. "So let me get the strait. You come tearing through the forest screaming your lungs out looking for me, to tell me you're sorry for yelling in my ears? Some how I just can't believe that's it."  
  
He moved closer to her, peering into her eyes with that suspicious look on his face again, and Kagome felt herself smile involuntarily. He really looked funny when he made that face, with his head cocked to the side like a dog and his ears twitching.  
  
"Ok now what's so funny?" He asked with a hint of anger in his voice this time. He hated it when people laughed at him like he was some kind of joke....  
  
"Calm down Inuyasha, I'm not laughing at you like that." She said, sensing him stiffen up thinking she was laughing at him. She knew he hated it when people made fun of him.  
  
"But to answer your question you're right. I didn't just come looking for you to apologize. First of all I was worried something had happened to you...." she stopped here looking up at him with concern. She looked him over for the second time to make sure nothing had happened to him that he was trying to hide, and decided with a smile that he really was fine. Inuyasha's eyes softened at her comment and he closed his eyes with a smile.  
  
"You should know by now, Kagome, that I'm strong enough to kill anything that's stupid enough to try and attack my with my tetsusaiga."  
  
Kagome nodded, "Yes but that doesn't keep me from worrying. And.......in any case, that's not the only reason I was looking for you." She said, suddenly feeling shy. "Everyone has opened their presents already since you were gone, and I wanted to give you your present." 


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or anything to do with Inuyasha.  
  
Inuyasha looked at her curiously and waited for her to say more. When she didn't, he shifted his weight impatiently and made a little sound in the back of his throat. This seemed to snap Kagome out of whatever she had been thinking about and caused her to look up at him once again. She blushed, a little embarrassed about the gift she was giving him and slowly pushed it into his hands. He stared at it for a moment before seemingly coming to a conclusion.  
  
"Is it— is it inside the paper?"  
  
Kagome blinked, a little bit surprised that he had caught on so quickly where the others had needed so much explaining, and nodded. He stared at it, brow furrowed, and finally lifted his hand to open it. Using one claw he neatly ripped a clean cut line through the top of the paper and pulled the paper wrapping apart. What greeted him inside, was a small leather bound book. Reaching for the book, he took it in his hand and sniffed it to be sure it wasn't some kind of trick. When he was satisfied that it wasn't one of Shippo's little toy illusions he opened the book to the front page. He blinked in surprise and brought the book closer to his eyes to examine the picture he saw sitting there.  
  
He would have had a much bigger reaction to the photo album if he had not seen one of these 'photos' once before. Kagome had shown these things to him twice before, explaining that they were sort of moment capturers put on paper. He remembered how she had shown him pictures from her yearbook one time when he had followed her through the well and recalled her explanation for the odd pictures. The picture sitting before him in the photo album was just the same as those he had seen on that day, only the subjects were much different. In the picture Inuyasha was looking at, stood Kagome, Souta, her mother, and her grandfather in front of the sacred tree. His eyes grew wide at the perfect detail of the picture and felt himself marveling yet again at the precision of these photo things. He quickly flipped the page and found himself looking at the faces of Miroku, Sango, Shippo, and Kaede standing in the same spot, only in the feudal era. Next he saw photo of the same picture only a few minutes after the first had been taken. The only difference between this one and the first was that Miroku had a large red slap print on his face and Sango looked livid.  
  
He smirked at this picture and silently imagined how Miroku had 'accidently' let his hand slip onto Sango's bottom to deserve such a slap. He shook his head at the foolish monk, he'd never learn would he? The next picture made Inuyasha's eyes open in surprise as he realized the picture to be of himself. He was standing next to a tall oak tree with his arms folded in front of him and tucked into his haori sleeves. The wind had caught his silver hair and was blowing it out behind him. He had a very calm expression on his face, and he wasn't sure if he liked this one— it made him look weak.  
  
"That one's my favorite." Kagome said quietly from behind his right shoulder. He gave a small jump as he realized she had been standing there ever since he had started looking through the album. He felt his eyes go from surprised to a little bit guilty as he realized what had happened that day, right after this picture had been taken. He had been standing there calmly thinking about nothing in particular, when he saw a small flash of light from behind a bush. He had sprung through the bushes at once to catch whoever was spying on him and had been angry to find Kagome looking back at him with a surprised look on her face. He had shouted at her a lot after that, and he knew he had hurt her feelings even if she wouldn't admit it. She wouldn't talk to him for three days after the incident. And now he knew she had only been there in the first place to get a picture for him. He felt his eyes soften at her comment and turned back to looking through the pictures after turning the corners of his mouth up in a brief smile for her. The next couple of pictures held a variety of shots of Shippo, Miroku, Sango, and himself that he smiled at when remembering the days the incidents had happened. But it was the last picture he decided, that meant the most to him. It was a picture of Kagome, just Kagome by herself. She was wearing a very pretty kimono and sitting on the edge of the well with one of her ever-present smiles fresh on her lips. He smiled, he couldn't help it....... no one had ever given him a gift like this before.  
  
Kagome watched Inuyasha finish looking through the photo album and stared at the odd look on his face. For once he didn't look angry, confused, or arrogant— he just seemed happy. She felt a small smile creep over her face and stepped closer to him happily. She was going to ask him if he liked the photo album when he suddenly turned around to face her. Before her brain could even register what was going on, he had hugged her. Inuyasha was hugging her! She gasped in shock as she felt his strong arms circle around her in a gentle embrace. Although her mind was still in shock over this sudden action she felt her body melt under his warmth and hugged him back. How odd it was that they had known each other for so long, and had been through so much together, yet had hugged like this so few times? All she knew was that she didn't even need to hear him say thank you at this point. His simple gesture of gratitude was enough for both of them.  
  
Inuyasha wasn't sure why he was hugging Kagome, all he knew was that the photo album she had given him was one of the nicest things anyone had ever given him. Nobody else he ever knew had spent so much time and effort making something for him. It meant a lot to him that someone actually cared enough for him to make something like that. It was true he hated looking weak, and hugging her like this wasn't something he would normally do. Maybe it was the way she had been screaming for him so worriedly earlier, like nothing else mattered at the moment but finding him. Or maybe it was just the fact that she had always been so kind to him— apart from all the sits— and he felt he owed her for that. He really didn't know, but at the moment it didn't matter because it felt good hugging her like this— as if something was being lifted off his conscious, and he didn't mind about the momentary weakness he was showing. He knew she wouldn't betray him in anyway and hugging her was something that felt almost natural to him.  
  
Kagome felt herself slowly lean her head onto his shoulder with a sigh of happiness. Yes, she decided, Christmas was her favorite holiday. Inuyasha had his eyes closed she noted, and seemed to be unawares they were still hugging. Acutally it didn't bother her at all, the longer they hugged the better. She really cared about Inuyasha a lot, and she didn't ever want to see him hurt. With him hugging her like this she knew he cared about her as well, even it was only a little bit.  
  
With that thought floating through her mind she suddenly remembered when she had shouted in his face earlier that day. Her eyes snapped open in guilt remembering the incident and frowned, disgusted with herself. She knew she had already apologized to him but it still didn't seem like it. She slowly lifted her head from his shoulder and peered at his ears hovering only a few inches above her eyes. She wondered what it was like living with such high hearing. Surely it wasn't as great as it might seem. She just cringed at the image of Inuyasha's cringing face, as it floated through her head. She wished she could do something else to make it up to him.....he was being so nice to her right now. She felt her fingers start to tingle and slowly started reaching upwards towards his sore ears.  
  
Inuyasha still had his arms around her and wasn't really paying attention to where she was putting her hands. The feeling of fingers on his ears hit him all at once, making him gasp in surprise. His eyes shot open, to reveal two glaring irises as her fingers made contact with their destination. How dare she touch his ears, he hated it when people touched his ears! Especially Kagome's mother, that woman pulled so hard sometimes he felt like she was trying to rip them off. He lifted one arm from around Kagome, intent on shoving her away from the sensitive objects, when he felt her fingers begin to slowly caress the insides of his ears. His arm stopped in midair as the sensation hit him all at once. This was nothing like when Mrs. Higurashi grabbed at his ears. This was, this was totally different....  
  
Kagome felt Inuyasha open his eyes when she brushed his ears with her fingertips and hoped she wasn't upsetting him. However, he pulled out of the hug as soon as he felt her touch his ears, and her heart sank sadly at his reaction— she had upset him. She decided to give his ears a quick apologetic rub before he started yelling at her, and moved to take her fingers away. She was about to leave his ears alone when her eyes opened wide at the new expression on his face. He had closed his eyes again and had the soft same expression he always had when he was asleep. She stared at him in bafflement. Wasn't he just mad at her a few moments ago or had she read his body language wrongly? His arms where hanging limp at his sides and he was just standing there as if totally relaxed. She moved her hands back onto his ears and gave them an experimental caress to see if he would start yelling at her yet. When he did nothing but continue to stand there, she took that as a sign he didn't mind. In all truth she was a little bit surprised. It had mostly been an impulsive thing when she reached up to rub his ears a few moments ago and she really hadn't expected him to actually let her keep doing it. She moved a little closer to him and ran her fingers along the silky backs of his ears in a soft soothing motion. Inuyasha made a small noise in the back of his throat and leaned forward until his head fell forward onto her shoulder. Kagome gasped in surprise, what was he doing? It had been one thing for him to give her a hug but this was so unlike Inuyasha she didn't know what to say.  
  
"Um Inuyasha, do you want me to keep doing it?" she asked, a little bit confused as to what was going on. Inuyasha gave a muffled grunting noise that wasn't even extinguishable as a word and continued to rest his head on kagome's shoulder as if he were asleep. Kagome stood still for a moment wondering if she should continue with this or not. Obviously this was why he never wanted people touching his ears, and she felt a little guilty about going behind his back like this. He wasn't protesting or anything but somehow he seemed to be incapacitated by the touching of his ears and she seriously doubted whether he was even in the mind to tell her to stop even if he wanted her to.  
  
When she looked at him looking so peaceful however, she couldn't bring herself to stop. His ears where so soft and he looked so cute with that look on his face that she couldn't resist. She reached out her hands and took a hold of his ears yet again. Inuyasha leaned heavily on her as her finger massaged the tips of his ears and slowly progressed down until they reached the spot where the skin on his ears attached to his skull. She rubbed in little circular motions there, but stopped in surprise when she distinctly felt Inuyasha shiver with pleasure under her touch. With a soft moan he gave way and fell against her completely unawares of what was going on around him. Kagome gave out a small squeak of surprise as she felt her legs give way under the weight. The result was Kagome landing heavily on the ground with an unconscious Inuyasha on top of her, preventing her from getting up. She managed to work her self into a sitting position and stared at Inuyasha in disbelief. Why hadn't he ever told her he turned into putty every time someone touched his ears? This was quite a great weakness to be hiding from her for so long. But then again.... She really couldn't blame him. He was always trying to act like the tough guy around everyone and he hated it when he was caught acting weak. This was probably a very embarrassing problem to him and that's why he had never let her touch his ears before.  
  
Kagome glanced at Inuyasha again and felt a smile appear upon her lips despite herself. He was lying on top of her with the most peaceful look on his face she had ever seen. His head was resting on her chest with his soft silver hair flowing out behind him in long waves. She sighed as she happily brushed a loving hand across his cheek. He was always so beautiful when he slept that it made her smile just to look at him. She absently caressed his ears as she gazed into his sleeping face and found herself wondering if he'd ever have let her hold him like this if she hadn't rubbed his ears. She was just wondering if she should try to move him off of her when a low rumbling sound met her ears, making her gasp in surprise. Was he— was he purring? No, purring wasn't the right word for it. Dogs don't purr they make a similar noise, only deeper and not as easy to hear unless they really want you to. Inuyasha was definitely making some sort of noise of extreme happiness and whatever it was, was making her blush profusely though she hadn't the faintest idea why.  
  
She quickly stopped caressing his ears and contented herself with just letting her hands rest on the soft appendages until the purring subsided. It was all a bit much. She had never seen this side of Inuyasha before, and she was beginning to get scared as to how he would feel about the whole situation when he woke up. Would he be mad at her? She sighed dismally, he would probably be furious. His pride would get the better of him and he would probably be screaming at her for hours.  
  
She had been pondering these disheartening thoughts for the last ten minutes, when she began to feel Inuyasha beginning to stir in her lap. He was trying to say something but his speech was slow and forced, as if some small part of him was desperately fighting against some greater force inside of him to get the words across.  
  
"Kagome...please....stop rubbing." Was all he managed to get out before he lost the will to speak any longer. Kagome looked at him in surprise and dropped her hands as he had asked. She was completely aghast that, first of all, he was aware that she had been rubbing his ears this whole time. And second of all, he had said please. She was about to ask him if he was still awake at the moment, when something caught the corner of her eye. It was the album. The whole reason they were both here in the first place. That little, carefully thought out Christmas gift. Kagome sighed and picked it up. Turning back to Inuyasha she lifted up the neck of his outer haori and slid the book into the secret pocket she knew he had under the heavy coat. She wanted to make sure he still had it when he woke up and she didn't want him to leave it behind....  
  
Inuyasha opened his eyes. Finally. It had seemed like ages since he had lost himself to the ear rubbing. He always felt so peaceful and comfortable whenever he woke up after having his ears rubbed like that. He remembered how as a child his mother would gently rub his ears when he was sick to get him to fall asleep. It worked evertime, and unfortunately it still worked— not that he didn't love it. In fact it was the fact that he longed for this ear rubbing so much that frightened him. If anyone was ever to find out about this weakness......it could end up in his death and everyone else's.  
  
He opened his eyes slowly, and blinked several times as his eyes adjusted to the sudden light. The first thing that he noticed as he opened his eyes was Kagome. She was hovering over him with a worried look on her face and Inuyasha closed his eyes again as he remembered how this particular ear rubbing had come to pass. He distinctly remembered that he had been standing when she had given him the Christmas present in the middle of a small clearing. He had given her a hug and he remembered feeling her fingers on his ears. He expected her to touch them like Mrs. Higurashi and yank them about, so he hadn't acted quick enough. He had expected it to be a painful ear rubbing, not a soft one. But he had been wrong, he touch was soft and he had almost immediately felt his mind empty of all thoughts.  
  
There was his mistake. He had let her touch him, had hugged her himself, and in turn she had touched his ears and now she knew. She knew what he became every time someone touched his confounded ears and he had no idea what she thought of him now. She probably thought he was weak. A weak little puppy not worth the Christmas present she had worked so hard to put together...........he opened his eyes, expecting to see her embarrassment, and disgust after finding him to be so weak and was completely thrown for a loop when what he saw was only worry and a hesitant smile etched upon her face. 


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or anything to do with Inuyasha.  
  
He just lay there, completely motionless, and stared at her. Neither one of them said anything for a moment. Inuyasha was completely shocked that she didn't seem repulsed by the fact that he was laying in her lap and didn't know what to say. He wasn't sure how he had ended up there in the first place, but the sudden realization of where he was hit him all at once as he stared into her unblinking eyes. Feeling his face burning in embarrassment he flipped into a sitting position faster than he had ever moved before, causing Kagome to jump a bit in surprise. Hair swirling wildly around him, he relocated himself quickly away from her, with a dazed expression on his face. He gritted his teeth, completely mortified, and closed his eyes in embarrassment.  
  
Kagome just looked at him worriedly and sighed, this was the reaction she hadn't wanted from him. She looked down, sad that he was so embarrassed by her, and folded her hands in her lap. She half expected him to get up and leave her again, and wished that just for once he would suck up his pride and talk to her. She looked up at him, and sighed exasperatedly as she waited for him to turn around and run off. She jumped in mild shock when instead of turning away from her, he opened his mouth to speak.  
  
"Thanks –for the present."  
  
Kagome looked up at him, presently surprised, and noted that although he wasn't looking at her he didn't seem to feel inclined to run away at the moment. She hadn't though he was going to stick around and felt herself blush at the sudden comment. She had thought he was leaving, and the fact that he hadn't run off, waking up the way he did, made her feel slightly better about their relationship. He had his usual conservative expression back on his face and seemed to be ignoring the fact that a moment ago she had been holding him in her lap. For the moment, that was fine by her. If he wasn't ready to mention the incident, she wasn't going to either. She gave him a hesitant smile and nodded.  
  
"Yeah, I thought you might like it to remember your friends by."  
  
Inuyasha looked thoughtful for a moment before replying. "What do you mean by remember your friends? I wasn't aware you were going anywhere."  
  
"Well— I don't know, we aren't always going to be together are we? We're all together now of course, but I suppose we can't be with each other all the time. The book I gave you is called a photo album. It's for remembering people when they're gone, or if you just want to remember the good times you've had with them. So when I go down the well for example, all you have to do is look at my picture and it's like the person never really left. Of course it's never the same as having the person there, but it helps....." she trailed off here, feeling his intense gaze on her, and looked up at him curiously.  
  
"What makes you think I'm gonna look through this thing every time you go down the stupid well? I'm not that pathetic— I have a life if you didn't notice Kagome." He folded his arms imperiously and sniffed, as if her comment was quite laughable. Kagome felt herself ball her hands into fists again and frowned at his rudeness. That comment had really hurt her more than she would ever let him know. Didn't he miss her at all when she left? She was just trying to make him happy— why did he have to go and act like he didn't even care about her when a half hour ago he had just hugged her? He could be so immature sometimes!!!! She felt herself flush an angry red color, and closed her eyes in extreme irritation.  
  
"Fine Inuyasha, don't look at it if you don't want to! It was just an example— I was just trying to give you a Christmas present that you would like. The fact that I stayed up half the night sorting through all those pictures probably means nothing to you, so if you don't mind, I think I'll be going home now to spend Christmas with my family."  
  
Kagome stood up rather stiffly and walked past him without even giving him a second glance. Inuyasha stared after her, mouth hanging open in confusion, and felt himself questioning her motives for the third time that night. Hadn't— hadn't she just been holding him a few moments ago? And he had pissed her off already?  
  
"Wha— wait a second! You're going back?? But you just got here! There's no way you're going back yet!" He shouted frantically.  
  
Kagome stopped, angry enough to sit him, and gave him one of her worst glares yet. "Inuyasha, leave me alone!!! I'm going home now so I can be with my family on Christmas moring, and I'm NOT staying here no matter what you say. In case you haven't noticed, I have presents for them too, ok? I want to be there when they open them— and I know Souta has been working really hard on his present for me and he's been really excited about it. I'm not just going to stay here and disappoint him by not showing up when he gives it to me, alright? I'm going, and that's final!!!"  
  
Inuyasha gaped at her, mouth working furiously in indignation but no words coming out. Kagome walked away before he had time to respond, and Inuyasha felt himself really starting get pissed off.  
  
"Dammnit Kagome, stop! We've wasted enough time already with this Christmas thing of yours and we have to get back to collecting jewel shards, do you hear me? Listen, I do like your present thing, ok? Now will you stop this crap about your family and stay?"  
  
Kagome stopped, not even bothering to turn around, and shouted, "SIT!!!" at the top of her lungs. Inuyasha crashed into the ground with even more force than usual, and groaned in agony as he struggled to get up.  
  
"OW!! Damnit Kagome, why do you always do that?" He cried angrily.  
  
"Why do I always do that???!!! WHY DO I ALWAYS DO THAT????!!! I'll tell you why I always do that, I do it because sometimes I hate your guts you jerk!!!!!!" Kagome screamed so loudly, it made Inuyasha curse as her shouts hurt his sensitive ears— so much for feeling guilty.  
  
She was steaming as she stared at the indignant look he was giving her. Who did he think he was to go ordering her around like that? He had no right— not to mention he was being extremely rude.  
  
"Dammnit Kagome." Inuyasha muttered angrily.  
  
Kagome just stared at him, eyes flashing angrily, and turned once more to leave. She got two steps before whirling around to shout one last thing at this impudent jerk of a hanyou.  
  
"And don't even think for a moment that I'm ever going to rub your ears again— because I won't!!! You acted like such an insensitive jerk after I tried to do something nice for you— I made you a Christmas present and I even tried to make up for yelling in you ears by rubbing them. But now I don't even care if I'm yelling to loud that it hurts your ears!! You deserve it you jerk!"  
  
Kagome could feel her face go red as she realized her mistake in bringing up the ear-rubbing situation, and abruptly resumed her angry retreat without another word. She allowed herself a small smile of satisfaction at the complete look of embarrassment and anger on Inuyasha's face before she had turned away, and decided he had gotten what he deserved for acting like that.  
  
She had already walked a fair distance away from him, and was starting to disappear into the foliage, when Inuyasha finally managed to think up a retort to Kagome's last statement.  
  
"Yeah— well, what makes you think I liked it?" He asked lamely, not able to think of anything better to throw at her in his moment of embarrassment.  
  
Kagome heard him but didn't even bother to acknowledge his words as she continued to move away from him. She knew as well as he did that he was putty in her hands if he let her get a hold of his ears again. There was no way she would believe anything he said if he continued denying that he wasn't in control of the situation the entire time. He had even purred for god sakes, did he really think she was going to believe he hadn't liked it? He had to practically force himself to tell her to stop, and that was only when she had paused long enough from rubbing his ears for him to get the sentence out. Kagome sighed nonchalantly and continued her trek, trying not to bother herself with further thoughts of the last two hours even though it was near impossible. Inuyasha, thank god, wasn't following her, and she felt inclined to slow her pace a bit.  
  
She continued walking in this manner for fifteen minutes before finally breaking out of the forest. As soon as she stepped out of the foliage she noted with some thankfulness that Sango, Shippo, and Miroku had taken their gifts and made camp somewhere for the night. She really didn't want to explain to them why she was leaving already, and knowing Miroku, he would automatically think Inuyasha and her had been up to something in the woods. She wasn't in the mood to deal with him at the moment, and was just happy to be going home for now.  
  
She smiled familiarly at the shape of the wooden bone eaters well as she walked across the clearing leading to it. It was dusk and Kagome felt a slight shill in the air as she made her way over to the well. At home right now, her mother was most likely preparing some chai tea for the cold weather. Kagome brightened knowing that in a minute or so she would be greeting her mother and getting some of that tea for herself. She smiled briefly and put her hands on the sturdy worn edge of the well swinging her leg over the side as she did. She was just about to lean into the well, when she felt a sharp blast of wind whip across the clearing, causing her to shiver violently. She rubbed her shoulders absently and looked up into the sky. It was a soft grayish blue color, suggesting snow was to come. As she pondered this thought, her suspicions were confirmed quickly, as the first heavy flakes of snow floated down around her.  
  
It didn't snow often where she lived, but whenever it did, it gave her a sort of peaceful feeling in side. She sighed defeatedly and gave herself up to the serenity she felt flowing over her. She swung her other leg over the edge of the well so that she was now sitting on the brink of the well with both her legs dangling down over the bottom, and closed her eyes for a moment. After a bit, she lifted her head slightly and opened her eyes to the wall of perfect snowflakes drifting lazily about her in the breeze, and whispered one thing before pushing herself into the well.  
  
"Inuyasha.......I guess I have to forgive you, stupid hanyou." She smiled momentarily, and was lost in a swirl of blue light as she was launched through the well into her own time. 


End file.
